Our final program in conjunction with Tilt-Shift LA was all that I hoped it would be - and more. Not knowing the precise details of what would unfold within the gallery tonight, I had nonetheless been promising (and advertising!) an “intimate and intense” evening. Those words were totally accurate! About 60 people came in and out of the gallery over the course of the evening. Some were too timid to enter the room where the performance was happening – others were happy to make themselves comfortable on the floor around the perimeter of the room.

Contemplating the notion of queer performance and perusing this opportunity for real-time interaction, itch gave us 2hours4every3minutes: a performance cycle.

In the first hour, Greg Barnett, Taisha Paggett and Meg Wolfe rotated through a series of 3-minute performances, each one feeding off of and building from the previous experience. In the second hour, the 3-minute performance cycle opened to anyone who wished to bring their body into the conversation. Over the course of 2 hours, the arc of the performance was built from the shared labor of the bodies in this intimate space, bodies whose participation as witness or mover was of equal value. When audience members did join the performance, it was to beautiful effect. Thank you so much to Greg, Taisha and Meg, and to the participants and audience members!

Sunday was amazing! With such a great assembly of creative exhibitors, it’s no wonder so many enthusiastic people came out to support the hard work of local producers and purveyors of independent publications. From the smutty to the sublime, from the haunting to the hilarious, there was definitely something on hand for anyone who had a few bucks to spare for portable, page-flippable art and literature. What about our sisters and brothers with no dough in their pockets, you ask? Not to worry – the Miracle Book Mobile was on hand to distribute free reading material to attendees, regardless of their financial status. Folks picked up all kinds of things: ‘zines, art books, fiction, non-fiction, LGBTQ studies, and more! Ultimately, today’s program expands upon the themes addressed in Tilt-Shift LA. Whether ‘Zine Fest 2012! participants are gay, straight, or in between, I consider them all additional artists in the exhibition and I stand behind the importance of providing a platform for their work.

A very special aspect of today's festivities was the release of JIMMY #4: Tilt Shift LA. Edited by yours truly, this issue of the rad LA queer 'zine is chock-full of writings and artworks from the artists in the exhibition I curated, Tilt-Shift LA: New Queer Perspectives on the Western Edge. Get a copy at www.jimmythezine.com.

Saturday, February 18, 6-8pm: itchExperience an intimate and intense dance performance by members of the itch community, whose interests and practices converge in a happenstance yet curiously fortuitous bricolage. itch is an evolving art project qua artist forum cum journal/‘zine published in LA.